100 Spectacular Mystery & Thriller Novels: The 2023 Edit

Over the years, our reading tastes change, and recently I’ve acquired a hunger for thriller and mystery novels! I can’t necessarily always watch the movies (hello, nightmares), but reading the books is by far the genre I’ve grown into most in the last year. These are the best mystery thriller books that I’ve read, and some are still on my TBR!!

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The Best Mystery Thriller Novels I’ve Read

• A Familiar Stranger by A.R. Torre – I received an advanced reader copy of this one and it was amazing! Totally didn’t expect that style of writing. *Also available on Kindle Unlimited.
• The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson – To this day… this story still haunts me. Women are being kidnapped, and no one knows where. Somewhere in a millionaire’s massive glass-enclosed butterfly garden are these young women being intricately tattooed and kept as specimens in his collection. This story pieces together their lives and survival inside an insidious cage. *Also available on Kindle Unlimited as an e-book and audiobook.

The Family Plot by Megan Collins

A short and sweet thriller that I devoured in a day. My family and I read this in our tiny book club and it was five stars for all of us!! Set against the backdrop of a seemingly normal family mansion with some very big secrets, this was by far my favorite mystery novel of 2021!

• The Guest List by Lucy Foley – I just finished this one recently and truly loved it! A fast-paced read that takes place with an alternative timeline over 48 hours. Spectacularly justified feeling ending!
• The House in The Pines by Ana Reyes – A highly twisted and mysterious psychological bender that will leave you wondering what you just read!! **I received an advanced reader copy, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
• The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh – A decent murder mystery with alternating timelines and points of view set against the eerie backdrop of a stunning lake in Europe!
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides – I think Alex Michaelides is one of my new auto-buy authors. The way his writing comes together has been spectacular in both his debut of The Silent Patient and The Maidens!!

Thrillers Based on True Stories

Sometimes when I want something good, or there’s a movie coming out – I try to read the books ahead of time. I’ll keep updating this section as I go!

• The Patient’s Secret by Loreth Anne White – Truly one of the best murder mysteries I’ve read to date – and it’s based on a true crime story out of Canada! I think if I had to pick one from Kindle Unlimited, I would highly recommend this one. It’s written in such a great way and the end and the way everything unfolds is spectacular. **Also available as an audiobook or regular e-book on Kindle Unlimited!

My Favorite Cozy Mysteries

• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman – Part of a series of elderly people solving mysteries in the English countryside.
• Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens – An incredibly historical fiction murder mystery set against the backdrop of the 1960s in North Carolina’s marshes.

Best Mystery Thriller Novels Still On My TBR

All of these are highly rated, and I even have copies waiting on me at home! The only thing keeping me from having read them is time.. I think I’m reading somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty books a month right now. Find my reviews on @Southern.Lady.Reads, usually as soon as I finish them!

• Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose – A new mother comes completely unhinged!! Dirty Laundry was one of a handful of highly anticipated thriller releases for April 2023. Don’t forget to take a look at that post too!
• Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
• Girl, Forgotten by Karin Slaughter – Reading this one now but Karin Slaughter is a highly recommended author so I’m excited to finish this one up and post my review. Written by the same author as the New York Times Best Selling Thriller as Pieces of Her!!
• I Will Find You by Harlan Coben – A father is convicted of the murder of his missing son… then sees him in a photograph years later. Follow this father’s journey to reclaim his stolen life and son.
• Into the Water by Paula Hawkins – Review to come!
• The House Guest by Hank Phillippi Ryan – When a housewife is on the verge of being divorced by her wealthy and well-connected husband, Alyssa realizes she needs a plan. It comes in the form of Bree Lorrance making her an offer she can’t refuse.
• The Hunting Wives by May Cobb – Ready to step back from her career and live a slower, more connected life, Sophie leaves the city to move to Texas with her husband and young son. Becoming bored with suburbia, Sophie befriends a group of women and loses herself in partying.. until a girl is found murdered near their hangout.
• The Maid by Nita Prose – A hotel maid sees something she shouldn’t!
• The Personal Assistant by Kimberly Belle – An influencer’s personal assistant goes dark, a woman is murdered, and Alex’s perfectly structured social media world starts to tumble.
• The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
• Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea – Alex Armstrong is in hiding after clearing her name of the vicious murder of her family… but she’s never stopped looking for answers to what happened, all while balancing her job as a legal investigator.
• Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
• We Were Liars by E.Lockhart

The Best Suspenseful Thrillers Novels I’ve Read

• First Born by Will Dean – Review to come!
• Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian – Review to come!
• The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave – Review to come!
• The Maidens by Alex Michaelides: The way this book is written and the reveals are incredible. I mentioned this one when I talked about The Silent Patient above, but The Maidens is much more fast-paced and heart-racing!
• The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampire by Grady Hendrix – A totally oddball historical fiction thriller that’s also categorized as horror!
• The Woman In The Library by Sulari Gentill – One of my only five-star reads for 2022!! I tend to be very picky with my writing, but this tale is told from a writer’s perspective within a story… writing a story. It’s an amazing read, and you almost forget what you’re reading sometimes!!
• Verity by Colleen Hoover – You’ve probably heard of Colleen Hoover because her books sit firmly on the New York Times Best-Seller List for romances. This is Colleen Hoover’s first go at a thriller, and she succeeded!

Best Suspenseful Thriller Books Still on My TBR

• A Flicker In The Dark by Stacy Willingham
• All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
• All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers
• Killers of A Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
• Recursion by Blake Crouch
• Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
• Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Croft
• The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
• The Paris Apartment by Lucey Foley – The same author as one of my fave thrillers of 2023 so far: The Guest List.
• We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz

Young Adult Mystery Thriller Books

• The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – This highly popular series exploded on Booktok, and I still haven’t read it. Review to come!
• Truly, Madly Deadly by Hannah Jayne – this was my first foray into the young adult/new adult sphere, and it was SO good!

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